Rest Day in Tongoy

James >> Today we slept late (almost 10 o'clock) and awoke to a fairly drizzly morning, which has cleared up into a glorious day. Given we also had a lot of blog activity to catch up on and neither of us were particularly motivated to get back on the road we decided to spend the day in Tongoy. The camp site here is really quite nice with good, clean facilities and free wifi. And it's right on the beach (all be it behind a 10 foot fence - we have a key). We seem to have adopted a dog, well more the dog has adopted us, it just lazes about with us.
Kathryn took the opportunity to drive Azulita (the van) for the first time. She did a few blockies around the camp site first just to make sure, she was quite good at indicating and head checking at all the

turns (despite us being the only ones here). Then she drove into town without a problem, but I was a little nervous as a passenger. Now she is busy crafting up some extra pockets for next to the bed.
I figured I would use this post to talk about the van. It is a 1988 Type 3 VW Combi with a water cooled diesel engine. Its top speed is around 80 km/h on the flat, perhaps you could go a little quicker but you would have to work at it. It has been decked out with all you need for camping. It has two water tanks on the roof (actually fuel containers) that are plumbed in with garden hose to a sink inside (that drains to the ground) and a shower (tap) that extends out from the other side. What is cool (but we haven't used it yet) is the shower cubicle that can be set up off the side. It also came with two batteries, one to power the motor etc. and one for the inverter and interior lights.
Inside there is a bed (over the top of the motor) with a droppable foot

end and storage under the mid section. This is where we store mechanical things (and at this point the inflatable Kayak we inherited). Next to the head end (back of the van) is a cupboard we store our clothes in. There is a table that can swing and fold out, with storage under it (we store out packs, blankets, passports and cash in here as it is a pain to get to). There is also storage for food under the sink and another cupboard for what ever is left over. Up the front is a custom tray with cup holders that you can store all your junk, map and spanish - english dictionary.
The map shows our limited progress up the Chilean coast so far.